I feel like I’ve been away from home so long, I don’t even know where to start. So I’m just going to start with our trip to Grandma Lois’s and go from there.
I can’t believe it’s been over a week ago, but Beck, Heather, Mom, the kids and I all headed up to northern Iowa to visit Grandma Lois. We have been doing this each year for about ten years, and it is one of the highlights of summer.
Heather and the girls rode in one car…
And Beck and the boys and I rode in the other. (I can’t decide if that is a hug or a chokehold. Lol. Oh wait, yes I can. I’ve just finished riding in a car with these two boys for just over 2500 miles. It’s definitely a chokehold.)
And as soon as we get to Grandma’s, the first thing the kids do is ride their bikes around town. I don’t think these kids have ever ridden on a hard surfaced road, or a flat road for that matter, and Grandma has both. And the first place they ride to is the park.
We have a lot of fun at the park.
Another thing we like to do at Grandma’s is play Spoons. When the kids were younger, and we first tried to teach them spoons, it didn’t go so well. We finally ended up hiding the spoons and the kids thought the game was to try to find all the spoons. It worked great! And a new version of Spoons was created.
But the highlight of the trip, the crowning moment, is when we take the kids out in the dark of night and tell them a scary story. Oh my. The first time we did this, the kids were all 5 and under, so all we did was take them outside for a walk in the yard and jump out of the cornfield and “RRAAAARRRRRR!” at them. It scared the pants off them. Beck and I thought it was the funniest thing ever so a tradition was born.
But as the kids have gotten older, we’ve had to be more creative and imaginative with our stories. And I must say, we’ve done a bang up job the last ten years.
(Unless you count that one fake kidnapping story. That was definitely not one of our best parenting moments. Wow. What were we thinking?!)
But anyway, we drove the kids out to a deserted, dead-end dirt road that adjoins one of Grandma’s farms, and the story began.
Oh this story had drama, it had suspense, it had just about everything but a scary part. The story was a total fail. Aside from Abby, I don’t think a single kid was scared. Except the time Beck jumped at them and Cody reacted by accidentally kicking her in the shin. (That was kinda funny.)
But the kids quickly forgave us, and we promised to try harder next time.
And after a couple nights, we loaded up and headed back home.
We always have a good time and I am so thankful to have such a wonderful Grandma who always welcomes us into her home and graciously gives up her quiet, peaceful days to entertain us. She is the best!
And she even invites us back!
Love you, Grandma!
Have a good day!